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Rating: 
Summary: Husband loves it!
Review: I bought this book for my husband who is a history and Churchill buff. He loves it! I decided to surprise him and get the entire collection, and through Amazon's used books I was able to find each book, one at a time, from the original printing. I feel I scored a pretty good deal and the hubby is really impressed. Not only does he have a collection of great books but he has collectibles and a piece of history.
Rating:
Summary: Husband loves it!
Review: I bought this book for my husband who is a history and Churchill buff. He loves it! I decided to surprise him and get the entire collection, and through Amazon's used books I was able to find each book, one at a time, from the original printing. I feel I scored a pretty good deal and the hubby is really impressed. Not only does he have a collection of great books but he has collectibles and a piece of history.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best at his best
Review: I have read and interviewed 86 authors (of every genre possible) for our Library radio station WYPL here in Memphis since the inception of our 'Book Talk' program in 1993. Unfortunately it was never my good fortune to know or talk to Prime Minister Churchill. I first read "The History of The English Speaking Peoples" as a young man shortly after WWII. The physical reading of this monumental work is an excercise in sheer pleasure as you are dealing with not only a word merchant without peer but one of the greatest intellects of the twentieth century. If you want to see your English Language used at its most agreeable consonance, but straight to the point like a rapier, then understand that Churchill is probably the best example we have had since the Bard. Churchill hadn't the time to do the background research for the four volumes so his staff did it for him. They gave him their notes daily and this amazing man dictated every word to his secretary. If you write, as I do, you understand this MO as a nearly impossible feat -- and in view of the quality of his thougthts and his writing -- a stupendous task. Originally a set of four (and very expensive now if you were fortunate enough to find them) they have now been combined into one large book which you still have trouble finding. I bought this one for my nephew as a result of a conversation he and I had had about the 'package' of 'rights' that each of us here in the United States enjoys as (we think) our entitlement. In the first three hundred pages alone Mr. Churchill traces back, in lucid, electric prose, the history of British Common law for nearly two thousand years and shows us how that protective mantel was drawn over us thread by thread, piece by piece and step by step. The rest of the book is full of the cultural protein of the politics of time -- but I warn you, you must be careful reading this work. Mr. Churchill is addictive and he has about twenty thousand other pages out there just as meaty. Rus Morgan author of "Blackberries Got No Thorns", "The Voodoo Vortex" and "Luci".
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating reading, a little cursory
Review: Naturally, a detailed history of the English speaking peoples would take a great many volumes, more than the 4 in Churchill's work. Not surprisingly, it's a little sparse in detail in some places. This is not generally a problem, since details about politics and battles from the 12th century are not well documented anyways. This work does an admirable job hitting the highlights, and it is very easy to read. It is logically set out, with some maps (I would have liked more) to help clarify certain situations.I especially liked the earliest two volumes. While they cover the most ground in terms of years (and are therefore the least detailed), they cover the time that most people know the least about. Thus, it was almost like hearing the stories for the first time (or, at least, unfiltered through the words of Shakespeare). There are some questionable choices of material, however. For instance, the French revolution is covered in detail. While an important event, it did not happen to English people directly - a statement of the results and the reaction in England would have sufficed. Contrast this with the very sparse (2 pages, I think) coverage of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1746 - this was a major event for the Scottish nation (at least, for the Highlands), and does not receive appropriate consideration. There are numerous other instances of questionable emphasis - virtually nothing is said of the colonisation of America until the American Revolution, and Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are only mentioned when in conflict with England. Are they not also "English Speaking People"? These are minor flaws, however. All in all, I recommend picking it up if you see it in a used bookstore somewhere. It doesn't have the personal feel of Churchill's "Second World War" set, but it is a fascinating and enjoyable romp through the ages.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating reading, a little cursory
Review: Naturally, a detailed history of the English speaking peoples would take a great many volumes, more than the 4 in Churchill's work. Not surprisingly, it's a little sparse in detail in some places. This is not generally a problem, since details about politics and battles from the 12th century are not well documented anyways. This work does an admirable job hitting the highlights, and it is very easy to read. It is logically set out, with some maps (I would have liked more) to help clarify certain situations. I especially liked the earliest two volumes. While they cover the most ground in terms of years (and are therefore the least detailed), they cover the time that most people know the least about. Thus, it was almost like hearing the stories for the first time (or, at least, unfiltered through the words of Shakespeare). There are some questionable choices of material, however. For instance, the French revolution is covered in detail. While an important event, it did not happen to English people directly - a statement of the results and the reaction in England would have sufficed. Contrast this with the very sparse (2 pages, I think) coverage of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1746 - this was a major event for the Scottish nation (at least, for the Highlands), and does not receive appropriate consideration. There are numerous other instances of questionable emphasis - virtually nothing is said of the colonisation of America until the American Revolution, and Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are only mentioned when in conflict with England. Are they not also "English Speaking People"? These are minor flaws, however. All in all, I recommend picking it up if you see it in a used bookstore somewhere. It doesn't have the personal feel of Churchill's "Second World War" set, but it is a fascinating and enjoyable romp through the ages.
Rating:
Summary: WHO LET THIS GO OUT OF PRINT?
Review: This is an EXCELLENT book. With his fine writing skills, Churchill teaches nearly 1,000 years of history in an educated, interesting, moving, suspenseful, and even entertaining manner. He also offers beautiful photographs of certain historical figures. One thing he does very well is that he gives a scholarly view of historical figures (like King Henry VIII) who are subjected to harsh and inaccurate views. My only complaint about this book is that he speeds over some things that should have been given more attention. (Just make sure this is not your only book on the subject.) If I was teaching history, I would most probably have my students buy this. Letting this book go out of print (in my opinion) was a MAJOR MISTAKE!
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